Christopher Martin

Dr Christopher Martin

Research Fellow

Organisation

University of Sheffield

Research summary

One of the most exciting advances in the study of the brain over the last few decades is the development of brain imaging tools that allow us to capture images of the human brain ‘at work’. However, we now need a much better understanding of where the signals that are used to create these images come from and what they really tell us about the activity of groups of brain cells. Specifically, we know very little about how to interpret brain imaging signals when they originate from structures deep within the brain, or how changes in the levels of important brain chemicals affect the meaning of brain imaging signals.

We propose to make measurements of the activity of brain cells in deep brain structures at the same time as recording brain imaging signals to allow us to better understand the relationship between the two. We will then see how this relationship is altered by changing the levels of serotonin, a brain chemical known to be important in normal brain function and diseases such as depression. The findings of this work will improve the way in which we can use brain imaging tools to help us understand human health and disease.